The Silent Fear by JB Heart

The Silent Fear by JB Heart

Mark Robertson is a topnotch attorney who wins every case he is assigned, regardless of what side of the bench he’s on. He has a beautiful wife, adorable son, and a house decked out with the finest things money can buy. He drives a Jaguar, wears fancy suits, and regularly dines in the high-rent district. He’s got it all…but he wants more, and he’ll stop at nothing to get it. But Mark’s ambition comes at a cost, and it repeatedly puts his family in grave danger. How far will Mark go to make his dreams come true, and how many cruelties must his family suffer in the process? The Silent Fear by JB Heart is a deep and disturbing novel about how determination, greed, and addiction can destroy a beautiful life and cause even the most powerful men to crumble under the pressure of their vices. Not for the faint of heart, it depicts severe physical, verbal, and psychological abuse and includes instances of adultery, excessive drinking, blackmail, and other subversive behaviors. In the end, it is a story about surviving these things, rather than succumbing to them, and it tells a tale based more in love than in hatred.

That said, however, The Silent Fear features one of the most despicable characters this reviewer has ever encountered. Mark Robertson is smug, overzealous, and way too full of himself. He says, thinks, and does unfathomable things, especially when it comes to his wife and son. His views on parenthood and marriage are disgusting, and the way he acts when he’s drunk will make you cringe. In other words, JB Heart does a stellar job creating a character that’s truly loathsome. But, unfortunately, some of the impact of this character, and this story, is lost because of mechanical errors and poor stylistic choices. The text is full of run-on, multi-topic paragraphs that rush through the storyline quickly and haphazardly; and the dialogue often seems unrealistic, and is confounded by improperly placed, or absent, quotation marks. Taking its strengths alongside these weaknesses, The Silent Fear is a little hard to read, both for flaws in its writing and the sensitive nature of its content—but as hard as it is to read, it’s well worth it.